Siskiyou Co. Farm Bureau v. Dept. Fish & Wildlife
Annotate this CaseThe Department of Fish and Wildlife appealed a judgment in favor of the Siskiyou County Farm Bureau (Farm Bureau), interpreting a Fish and Game Code section 1602 requiring notification when an entity plans to "substantially divert" water from a river or stream. "The trial court appears to have been led astray by a questionable and aborted enforcement policy" issued by a single Department employee, as well as the deluge of extrinsic material proffered by the Farm Bureau in its effort to demonstrate a latent ambiguity in the statute. Although extrinsic evidence may reveal a latent ambiguity in a statute, "such ambiguity must reside in the statutory language itself. It cannot exist in the abstract, or by ignoring the statutory language." Here, the Court of Appeal found extrinsic evidence revealed no ambiguity in the statute: the term "divert" had a long-established meaning in the context of water law before enactment of the statute. Regardless of an entity’s legal right to take water, such as for agricultural purposes, and regardless of whether the taking alters the streambed itself, section 1602 unambiguously required notification to the Department if an entity plans to "substantially divert" water. After notification, a statutory mechanism--arbitration followed by court review--exists to resolve disputes about diversions. This notification requirement neither encroaches on any entity’s water rights, nor impairs the powers and duties of the State Water Resources Control Board. The Court of Appeals therefore reversed because the trial court incorrectly found the statute, section 1602, to be ambiguous, and then resolved the perceived ambiguity in a manner inconsistent with the plain language of the statute.
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